Istanbul Prepares for High-Profile Hotels

One hotel-to-be will be a “gathering place for creative and curious minds”.

Being European Capital of Culture in 2010 has provided the great city on the Bosporus with the prospect of a number of visible hotel openings from international chains scheduled for the coming years.

This latest wave of hotel openings includes a new property by the Edition brand of Ian Schrager, owner of the hotel and real estate company of the same name, and Bill Marriott, chairman and CEO of Marriott International. Destined to be small-scale and exclusive, its 77 guest rooms and suites are being designed by the architectural design firm Gabellini Sheppard Associates, known for its orientation to individual design. It will also have a spa covering almost 1,900 square metres and a private “club in the sky”.

Meanwhile, Starwood’s fourth property in the city will be the architecturally innovative Le Meridien Istanbul Etiler, a 32-floor skyscraper overlooking the Bosporus and described in promotional materials as a “gathering place for creative and curious minds.” With 260 guest rooms, its blocks will appear more transparent as the structure gets higher, “so as to allow the guests to fully immerse themselves in the sky”. Around 2,270 rooms are currently planned in Istanbul, under brands such as Shangri-La, Hilton, Radisson Blu and Crowne Plaza.